Look Around
by happyfacerajan
Summary: GENDER-BENDER!Lucy/Luke,Nastu/Natsa,Lissana/Lance. Three weeks since we've gotten back from Edolas. Three weeks since Lance came back. Three weeks I've over bought at the grocery, three weeks I've gone to my window to make sure it's closed, three weeks of getting dressed in the bathroom before walking into my bedroom. Three weeks of missing her.
1. Ignorant Ignorer

Luke's POV

I was happy to see Lance. I never knew him personally, but I knew that he was a good friend of Natsa. He seemed like a nice guy, the kind of excepting, heart-felt guy. At least that's what he seemed like. The first few days back from the guild, Natsa, Happy, Graya, and Erzo all sat with Lance. I was okay with that. I could understand that after being separated for so long, quite a big catch up was needed. A break from quests was needed too. I'm okay with that. That's the kind of person I am. I will give them as much space as they need, and they will come back when they've fully adjusted to having Lance back.

Today was chilly. It was late November, and the winter winds were just starting to kick in. I wrapped my scarf around my neck a little tighter, and buttoned my coat one button higher. I couldn't risk walking on the side of the canal like I always did, for fear of being blown right into the icy water. Plue was already cold to being with, so I decided not to call him out to walk to the guild with me. An un-usually lonely walk to the guild awaited me. On a usual morning, I would have woken up to Natsa arguing with Happy about whether or not fish was a good breakfast food. She would have jumped out of my window, and, to my anger, let all the cold wind inside by opening the window and jumping onto the street.

"Use the door for pete's sake!"

"There's no point! The window's faster!"

"That's no excuse!"

I would have gone down onto the street (using the door of coarse) and she would have waited for me, and we would walk to the guild together. But that hadn't happened for the past three weeks. Three weeks since we've gotten back from Edolas. Three weeks since Lance came back. Three weeks I've over bought at the grocery, three weeks I've gone to my window to make sure it's closed, three weeks of getting dressed in the bathroom before walking into my bedroom. Three weeks of missing her.

The guild was the same as always. Marco-Jean was wiping down the bar, Evergreen was whacking Elfman with her fan, Macao was teaching Romeo some magic tricks... The only thing missing was Natsa and Gray fighting. But I think I was the only person who noticed. Natsa and Graya were sitting with Lance -along with Erzo and Happy- laughing about something that I couldn't hear. I sat down at an empty table next to where they were sitting. They didn't notice me of coarse. I silently listened to there conversations, putting in my two-cents in my head. I made a promise to myself. I wouldn't interrupt Natsa and the group's happiness. I caught Lance once looking at me in the corner of his eye, but he quickly looked away. After about 45 minutes, I was about to got to the bar to get a drink. I pushed my chair back slightly to get up, but was stopped when Lance spoke.

"Oh hi Luke! When did you get here?" I scooted my chair back in.

"Yah Luke! Did you just get here?" I heard Erzo say. I was about to say I had been there for a while, but stopped myself.

"Um, I got here like 5 minutes ago!" I lied.

"That's good, I would have thought that we were ignoring you if you had been there longer!" Lance said. I blinked. Did I catch a little bit of sarcasm there? I turned away from them and got up.

"I'm going to get a drink." I said.

The bar stool gave a small **whoosh** as I sat down. Marco-Jean didn't come up to me to get my order. After a minute or two (a long wait for someone like Marco-Jean), I looked down the bar to see him talking with Lance at his table. _Can't blame him. He hasn't seen his brother in years!_ I got up from the bar and made my way to my table.

"Are you okay, Luke? You look pale!" I stopped in my tracks. Lance looked at me with a face too animated to be be of real worry.

"I'm fine!" I said. I put on a fake smile.

"Maybe you should go home." Lance said. I looked at him. Did he really just say that?

"I'm really fine!" I said. What's going on?

"No, I really think that you need to go home now." Lance said. I was taken aback. Was this middle school? I was going to say something, but Natsa's face looked up at me.

"Yah Luke, if Lance says you should go home 'cause you're not feeling well, you should." I took a step back. Then another.

"O-okay then, I guess I'll be on my way." I saw a small look of triumph in Lance's eyes. _Maybe it's better to go home. To get away from them. They don't notice I'm gone anyway. _As soon as I was out of sight from the guild, I sprinted the rest of the way home. I set one step into my apartment, and the tears started falling. _Didn't I promise I wouldn't ruin their happiness?_ I thought. It did nothing to prevent the tears from falling. I took my clothes off and changed into my sweatpants. I crawled into my bed, and cried myself to sleep. _Why does he hate me so much? And why do I miss her so much?_

The next day, I didn't go to the guild. If Lance could make that much damage to my friendship in 3 weeks, what about a month? Two months? My friendship with Natsa, Erzo, and Graya was over. I spent all day watching TV and staring tearfully out my window, waiting to see Natsa jump through it. She didn't.

I eventually made my way to the shower, and changed into flannel pants. I preferred to sleep without a shirt, and I could now, since Natsa wouldn't sneak into my bed at night. I guess Lance was right. I did need to go home.

If anyone in the guild noticed I had been gone for a day, they didn't show it. The only thing that struck me out of the ordinary was Natsa at the quest board.

"Hey Natsa!" I said. She looked at me sideways but kept reading the quests.

"Hey."

"Soo..." I was about to ask her if we were going to finally go on a quest when she violently jumped up and ran over to Lance.

"Hey Lance, I found one! 20,000 jewel!" I looked over at them. Lance saw me watching and put his hand around Natsa's waist, making her blush.

"W-what-"

"The sounds perfect, Natsa. We'll head out shortly. We just need to make sure Erzo and Graya can get all packed up." Lance let go of Natsa and winked at me, walking towards the back dorms, probably to get packed up.

"So Natsa, about the quest-"

"Oh yah. You don't need to come. We mostly just needed you to have a 5th person in the group, but now that Lance is back, you don't need to come anymore. I know how much you hate the hiking and stuff." My heart crumpled like a paper bag.

"I still have rent..." But Natsa was already gone.

_So I was only a replacement after all, huh?_ I thought. My face was stained with tears. _After all this talk about not abandoning your teammates, you go ahead and throw-out me, a replacement. _I thought again about the way Lance held Natsa. It made me mad. He held her as if she was property, like he owned her. I hated that kind of attitude. I even hate when used with my keys, they aren't my property, they're my friends. If I was the one holding Natsa, she wasn't my property, she would be my heart and soul. _Wait, am I in love with her?! _I sat up and laughed. I guess it was too late now. Natsa never thought of me like that, so I have no right to do so either. But I couldn't stay like this. I couldn't stay and pretend I liked it when he held her. So I got out a pen and paper, and wrote.

_Dear Natsa,_

_Since you realized this letter is from me, and not from Lance, you might be complied to throw this letter away. Please do not. I would much rather it if you sat down and read my letter carefully. I want you to dissect each and every word to see if it matches up with anything you have ever heard before. I know you're wondering when the real letter begins, and the thought to throw out this letter occurs again, but please resist the urge, and read my letter a bit longer. Here goes:_

_They once was a boy who was what he thought was very good friends with a girl. They did everything together. As the boy got to know her better, he began to fall in love with her. Right when he was about to tell her, an evil wizard came and disguised himself as the girls friend, but the boy could tell he was getting in between their friendship, and was ruining it piece by piece. The girl did not notice what was going on, but when she finally did_

_I think that you can make up the end of this story._

_Luke_

I licked the top of the envelope and sealed the letter. I put on some clothes and stepped out of my building and onto the cobble-stoned street.

"Why do you always have so much luggage?"

"Because I need it. DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?!"

"Nope! No no of coarse not..."

I froze. That conversation could only be between two people. And those two people were with two other people, plus a cat. _The last person I need to see right now..._ I thought. I fumbled the key in the lock, wasting precious seconds. I finally got it open, but not before Lance spotted me.

"Hey Luke! What a wonderful day isn't it? It's a good thing I'm going on a quest, I wouldn't want to waste this sunshine!" I clenched my teeth and slowly turned around.

"Yes, it is a wonderful day. If only the wind wasn't so sharp and cruel." I replied. Lance glared at me.

"Let's go! I'm all fired up!" A pink-head of hair bobbed up in-between us.

"I agree. You don't want Erzo's strawberry cake to get soggy now do you?" I said coldly. Natsa looked at me angrily.

"Luke, we need to talk." Natsa lead me half a block away from the rest of the group.

"Why are you being all angry and mean all of a sudden?" Natsa said. She looked so cute when she's angry.

"All of a sudden? ALL OF A SUDDEN?" I said. I shook my head and chuckled.

"Here's a letter from me to you. I was going to send it today, but since I saw you here, might as well give it to you now." I handed her the letter and she looked at it skeptically.

"I think it will explain my 'All of a sudden'." I said. I turned on my heels and walked into my building and up into my apartment. I looked out of my window, and saw Natsa looking up through it, fire coming out of her mouth. I closed the curtains and sat down with a book on my couch. _First attention I've had from her in weeks, and it's about me being mean... Oh, the Irony._


	2. Missing Mister Luke

Natsa's POV

_Who does he think he is? _I was fuming. Luke had ruined my whole pre-quest mood. _Why did he have to be like that? He isn't usually like that..._ I felt Lance's arm wrap around my waist. I jumped. Luke would have never done that.

"Let go." I said. Lance just smiled slyly and pulled me closer, and I could feel his breath against my ear. I felt my cheeks heat up.

"No." I sighed.

"Please?"

"Fine." He reluctantly let go of me, and I jumped away. He continued walking, not looking at me, but looking ahead and grinning, his hands in his cargo pant's pockets. He glanced over at me and winked. _What the hell..._ I ran up ahead and continued walking with Erzo and Happy. I could feel Lance's eyes on my back. Lower back. My butt?

"Pervert!" I yelled. I could here him laugh, but it wasn't joyful. I shivered and continued onward.

During the battle with the bandits, I found myself leaving spaces in my attacks, waiting for Luke to call out Taurus or Cancer. I got a little bit more beat up than I should have because of those hesitations. I also found Erzo and Graya trying to time there attacks, but it wasn't coordinated. Lance fought silently and independently. He wouldn't yell "Right!" or "Upper-left!" to warn me where the enemy was coming from. Luke used to do that. He made sure I didn't make any stupid mistakes or burn down any villages. _Stop it! You're supposed to be mad at him! _I thought.

Lance and I had to share a sleeping bag, since I had forgotten mine (Luke usually brought it) and he was a little too close for comfort. Every time I would try to move away, he would violently pull me closer, and once or twice I scraped my elbows trying to get away. Eventually, I managed to get up and out of the sleeping bag. _I slept with Luke all the time, and he never did that. _I walked out of the tent and out into the night air. It was chill, and I had the urge to unwrap my scarf and ask if Luke wanted it. When I remembered Luke wasn't there, I let go of my scarf and let it drape around my shoulders. _Why do I miss him so much?_ I recalled the weird encounter we had in front of his house, and I remembered the letter he had given me. I silently crept back into the tent, and took the letter from my backpack. I went back outside and laid on the grass, gazing up at the stars before opening the letter. _The stars remind me of Luke..._ I ripped open the top of the envelope and began to read the letter. Why was he so bitter? Why would I throw out this letter? I imagined that I was in my house, and I realized what he said was true. Each time he mentioned not to throw out the letter, I would have thought that and rushed to him, demanding he tell me face to face, not through some dumb paper with some meaningless writing. When I began reading the story, it made no sense to me. I was supposed to understand this? I read it again and again, but still couldn't figure it out. If this wasn't written by Luke, and if he was here, he would have helped me figure it out, but not before he screamed "BAKA! Do you not know how to read? It says clearly..." I shook my head. _Stop thinking of him!_ _Use your own head, for once!_ I thought about it, and it occurred to me to read it from his point of view. I read the story again, and this time I could at least make out that the girl was me and the boy was him, but who was the evil wizard? I remembered Lance's laugh from earlier. It couldn't be him, could it?

I woke up by a sharp tug coming from under me. I opened my eyes, and saw Lance trying to take Luke's letter out from under me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Oh, Natsa, you're awake!" I could hear his voice falter.

"I was just trying to take this letter out form under you because it seemed uncomfortable!" The ground was littered with small stones and pebbles, and a sharp rock jutted out of the ground next to where I was laying. Out of all the things that might have caused me pain, he chose the one thing that might have actually shielded me from the rough ground?

"Mmm. Okay." I took the letter from Lance's hands. I could feel him grip it, as if he wanted to keep it, but slowly release his grasp on it.

"Geez Natsa, I thought you would never wake up! Let's go back already!" Graya said, stepping out of her and Erzo's tent. Erzo stepped out beside her, dragging out dozens of luggage behind him.

"Yes. Let's get back so that I can bake some more cake." I sweat dropped.

"Where's Happy?" I asked suddenly, looking around.

"Oh, he's in the tent." Lance said. _Happy hates tents._ I opened the flap to the tent and saw Happy sobbing.

"Happy what's wrong?" I asked, rushing to him. He shook his head and took a deep breath.

"I miss Lance! He would have given me fish!" Happy howled.

"I thought Lance had? He packed them with me!" I said. To prove my point, I walked to his backpack and pulled out a cooler full of fish.

"But, but, -sniff- he yelled at me -sniff-." I blinked. Lance yelled at Happy for wanting fish?

"Is everything all right?" Lance said, peeking his head through the tent flap. I turned around and flashed a fake smile.

"Yup, Happy just wanted some fish. That's all!" I saw Lance's face harden, then become soft again.

"Okay. We'll be read to head out when you are!" I got up and Happy jumped onto my shoulder, his cheeks full of fish. _Evil wizard, huh?_

Back at the guild, I sat at the bar instead of at a table with Lance. After the letter incident this morning, I couldn't really look at him without thinking about the evil wizard in Luke's story. _Maybe I should ask Luke about it..._ I looked around for Luke, but he apparently wasn't in the guild. Happy flew over from were he was sitting with Wendy and Carla.

"Natsaaaaaaaaaa." He whined.

"Happy you don't have to whine. Tell me what you want." I said. Happy sat on the bar, and Marco-Jean handed him a fish. Happy happily took a bite before talking.

"I think you should apologize to Luke." I gasped and looked at Happy, wide eyed.

"Apologize for what? He was the one who was being rude goddamn it!" I said. Happy closed his eyes and took another bite from his fish.

"He looked hurt before he yelled at you, where as you looked furious before you yelled at him."

"Sooooo? The point is?"

"He was hurt really badly about what you said. It's true that he yelled at you first, but you should apologize for hurting him before he yelled at you."

"But I don't even know why he was hurt!"

"That's the point. By apologizing, you might find out why he yelled at you." Happy gave what he said a moment to sink in. I realized that I actually felt really bad for yelling at him. Maybe apologizing would actually help him apologize to me too.

"Let's go!" I shouted.

"Aye sir!" Happy said, jumping off the bar. Before I could make it as far as five feet, I felt a strong arm grab my wrist.

"Where are you going, Natsa?" Lance asked. I twirled around and tried to yank out of his grip, but he held strong.

"None of your business." I said. I pulled and pulled, but Lance would not let me go.

"It is my business, since I told you I was going to be your future fiancé, did I not?" He said. I blushed.

"That was when we were little." I said.

"Now please, let go of me!" I pulled so hard, I could feel my wrist about to pop from it's socket.

"No." He said. He pulled me close to him and I could feel his wet breath on my neck and it sent chills down my spine.

"I won't let you go until the guild closes. I want you here, with me, allday."

"Fine." I said. He let go of my wrist, and slipped a hand around my waist instead. I rubbed my red wrist, and he chuckled. It gave me chills. _When did Lance become so..._ I looked for the right word, and it hit me with sudden realization. _Evil?_

"Okay guys, we're going to close the guild now. Unless you live in the dorms, please leave so that I can get some sleep!" Marco-Jean said. It was 11:30, and Lance, Cana, and I were the only one's left in the guild. Happy had left long ago with Carla, and Erzo and Graya had to eventually go with their dates. Although Cana was there, she was past drunk, and collapsed on the floor.

"So, I guess we should be going, huh?" Lance said. He had acted normally through the rest of the day, and I was itching to go to Luke's house. When was the lat time I had gone and eaten his chili?

"Yah, I guess so." I said weakly.

"I would offer to walk you home, but since I live in a dorm, I'll have to leave you here."

"It's okay, I can make it home myself." I said. Marco-Jean made a shoo-shooing motion with his hands, and Lance gave a peck on the cheek before going into the back boy's dorms. After he left, I started slowly walking towards Luke's house. _What am I going to say?_ I wondered. _I was planning to do this with Happy, but now..._ I could feel my palms getting sweaty. _Why am I nervous? It's just a simple 'I'm sorry' right? _I walked along the cobble-stone path to Luke's house, making sure not to step too loudly and wake up the neighbors. When I got to Luke's building, on instinct I jumped up to the window and landed inside his apartment. All the lights were off, except for the bathroom. I remembered Luke say that he would leave it on every night just incase I came back late. _So he still leaves it on...does he miss me like I miss him?_ I walked through the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was packed with everything I liked, from Microwave instant stir-fry, to his home-made super spicy chili. I laughed silently. When was the last time I'd been here? Three weeks? It seemed too long. As much as I wanted to heat up some chili on the stove, I went to Luke's bedroom. I didn't see any light coming from underneath the door, so I suspected he was sleeping. I walked into his room, and saw him on the edge of the bed. He always slept like that, because I liked the side by the window better. _Old habits die hard I guess. _He was so peaceful, so instead of waking him up, I decided it would be better to crawl in with him, and talk in the morning. Before I slid under the covers, I walked along the walls of Luke's room, admiring the pictures of us on the many missions we have gone on. I felt my eyes tearing up. Each picture was like a mini jewel. In each picture, we were smiling wide, and sometimes Luke would be annoyed or irritated by my weird faces I made in the photo, or something I said before the picture was taken. Some of the picture were of us in the guild, others were of us with Graya and Erzo, and most of them were just Luke and I. I noticed that none of the pictures had Lance in them, and none of them were taken in the past three weeks. _Evil wizard indeed._ I thought. _Why didn't I see it sooner?_ I turned back to Luke, and slipped under the covers. Luke's warmth reminded me of all the nights I had lay here in the exact same place. I breathed in Luke's scent of lemons and something else that I couldn't explain, but I couldn't get enough of it. I scooted closer to him.

"I missed you so much." I whispered. I closed my eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly, dreaming about evil wizards, a boy, and a girl.

**Next Chapter coming soon!**


	3. Smooch, Slap, Sob

Luke's POV

Something warm brushed against my arm, and the smell of pine and apples followed. I opened my eyes.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" I stared into Natsa's eyes.

"I guess you could say that." I said. I remembered the conversation/fight we had the day before. Why was she here? Wouldn't she be mad at me? Did she read the letter?

"Wow, I said something to you, and you didn't Luke Chop me in the face!" She looked up into my eyes. I looked down into hers.

"I might, I just don't feel like it right now." I said. She laughed.

"Anyway, I came here to say...to say that I'm...I'm sorry about what happened the other day, and I'm sorry I didn't see sooner and how could I have not come here for three weeks? And now Lance is all mean and evil and I don't know what to do I missed you so much!" It was my turn to laugh.

"What?!" She asked. I laughed harder.

"I missed you too." I said.

"And I'm also sorry about yelling at you. I was just mad that it seemed like you..."

"Seemed like I what?"

"It seemed like you had...forgotten about me."

"So you were jealous?" I raised my had in Luke Chop motion and she raised her arms in defense.

"Gomen-nasi, Gomen, Gomen..."

"Anyway, Lance was pulling you away from me, and I felt like we were going to stop being friends." Natsa looked at me. In a flash, I felt a pillow smack me in the face and I fell off the bed.

"Ow! What was that for?" I moaned, clutching me head. Natsa jumped off the bed and strattled me on the floor.

"That was for thinking that I'd forget about you! And also just because I felt like it..." We then noticed the position we were in. Her legs were wrapped around my torso, and her face was just inches away from mine. Her face turned pink and she was about to scramble off me when I grabbed her face in my hands, keeping her in the same place.

"Wha-" Natsa was cut off when I silenced her with a kiss. I brought her head closer to mine, and she relaxed and tilted her head, deepening the kiss. We pulled away, and I stared into her eyes.

"I love you. I missed you when you were away, and I didn't want Lance to steal you away from me. I wanted you all to myself."

"Greedy." She said laughing. We kissed again, and this time she pulled away.

"I love you too, and I missed you and all your weak attacks and weirdness."

"Hey! No chili for you!" I put on a fake pout.

"NOOOOOOO!" Natsa howled.

"Unless you kiss me now."

"FINE." We kissed again.

"Now can I have chili?"

"I guess." I got up. Natsa sat on the floor and stared.

"What are you looking at?" I asked. Her mouth was hanging open and she was blushing furiously.

"Y-Y-you sleep without a shirt?" I looked down.

"YOU JUST NOTICED?" I shouted. She stood up and ran into the living room shouting.

"OMG YOU ACTUALLY HAVE MUSCLES!" She was hysterical.

"OF COARSE I HAVE MUSCLES!" I yelled after her.

We stood outside the guild, hand in hand. Natsa had a slight blush dusting her cheeks. I squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.

"What do you think they're going to do?" She asked. I shrugged.

"Probably what they usually do. Party, fight, drink. You know. The usual." She laughed. She looked at me again, this time seriously.

"I mean what will HE do?" She sounded worried.

"You mean Lance? I don't know what he will do. I'm expecting there to be a ruckus, but who knows what might happen. We just have to deal with it when the time comes." I said. I tried to be strong in front of Natsa, but I was worried too. _What if he attacks? Tries to hurt us?_

"Now or never." I said. Natsa nodded her head, and we opened the guild doors. Marco-Jean was the first to spot us, and came rushing over.

"Are you two...together?" The guild was silent. I was about to reply when Natsa took my head in her hands and kissed me. A huge ruckus started. Whistling and hooting, coming mostly from Graya and Erzo, cheers coming from multiple tables, and many people came up to us shouting;

"Finally, for god's sake, took you long enough!"

"How much longer would you guys have gone?"

"It was obvious from the beginning!"

I didn't hear any of them. The only thing I saw was Lance storming up to me.

"So, taking my girl. I see you're sinking to new lows."

"I never heard anything about her being your girl." I said. He took a step closer to me and poked a finger at my chest.

"She belongs to me, whether you like it or not." I could see rage in his eyes.

"She's not property. You can't own her. She doesn't belong to anyone, and if she wants someone to own her, it would be her choice, not yours." I pushed Lance's finger off my chest. He stood there, fuming. Marco-Jean came running over and tried to constrain Lance, but Lance pushed away from him. The guild was silent once again.

"Looks like I'm talking to the wrong person then." Lance snapped. He turned to Natsa.

Natsa's POV

"Looks like I'm talking to the wrong person then." Lance said. He tuned towards me, and I held onto Luke's arm.

"I trusted you." I said.

"I trusted you with my life. When we were little, you were my best friend. I don't know what happened to you, but I don't know who you are anymore. The kind, cheerful Lance is gone. What happened to-" My sentence was cut short when Lance lifted his hand and smacked me across the mouth. I could taste blood in my mouth and my jaw felt like lead. I could feel his handprint on my face and my skin stung. Marco-Jean punched Lance in the face.

"What happened to you?!" He yelled. Elfman came over and lifted Lance up into the air, carefully evading kicking legs and flapping arms. I was in shock. I felt Luke's arms around me, and Wendy rush over to make sure he hadn't broken my jaw. _How could he betray me like this..._ I thought. I started crying. Luke held me in his arms and rocked me back and forth as I sobbed into his chest. I heard Marco-Jean tell everyone to start preparing for a party, and the crowd whooped. Elfman carried a recently unconscious Lance out of the guild, and my sobs started to calm down.

"Natsa, he's gone now." Luke said. He took my chin and lifted my head up to him and looked me straight in the eye.

"I will never let him hurt you again, you got that?" I nodded. He smiled.

"And just remember, I will never, ever hurt you." I nodded again and he kissed me deeply.

Normal POV

"How does she bounce back so quickly?" Luke asked Julian and Erzo. They shrugged.

"As soon as she gets one beer in her system, she challenges Graya to a fight. She doesn't even bother to stay here with me. No, no, she'd rather fight Graya than be with me. How sad." I said loudly. No more than ten seconds later, Natsa appeared at the table.

"I heard that!" She said, panting. Graya was hot on her heels. Natsa gave Luke one quick kiss before punching Graya into a wall.

"Maybe it's just like that with women." Julian said.

"Who knows."

**The End! I hope you liked it! Requests are always welcome XD**


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